Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the private military company Wagner, confirmed his readiness to transfer the positions in Bakhmut (Artemovsk) to Akhmat special forces units at midnight on May 10. Earlier, the President of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, made such an offer to Prigogine.
“I would like to thank Ramzan Akhmatovich for agreeing to take our positions in Bakhmut, most likely, having the opportunity to get everything necessary and all the necessary resources,” said Prigozhin.
According to him, he has already contacted Kadyrov’s representatives to immediately begin the transfer of positions.
“So, exactly, according to our calculations, at the moment when we will completely exhaust our combat potential, our comrades will take our places and continue the offensive against the Bakhmut settlement,” said Prigozhin’s press service.
The founder of PMC expressed his confidence that the city will be taken by Akhmat forces.
“If the elder brother Prigozhin goes, the younger brother Kadyrov will come”
formerly Kadyrov declarationThat the Akhmat special forces are ready to replace the fighters of a private military company if they withdraw their units.
“If older brothers Prigozhin and Wagner leave, the General Staff will lose an experienced combat unit, and younger brothers Kadyrov and Akhmat will be replaced. If the scenario is still like this, our warriors are ready to advance and occupy the city. “This is a matter of hours,” Kadyrov said.
At the same time, he called Prigozhin’s statement about the withdrawal of PMCs from Bakhmut as “tasteless”.
“It is doubly unpleasant that the leadership of the Russian Ministry of Defense does not comment on the leadership of the Wagner PMC or meet with them to make any decisions or statements,” said Kadyrov.
The head of Chechnya gave examples when the Chechen troops found themselves in a similar situation (they had a shortage of ammunition and equipment), but did not leave their positions. At the same time, according to Kadyrov, the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff “with rare exceptions” always turned to their fighters.
“I hope Sergei Kuzhugetovich will heed my call and the General Staff will be ordered to go to the scene and sort things out. This is the only and militarily correct way out of the situation,” wrote the head of Chechnya.
Departure of PMCs from Bakhmut
On May 5, Yevgeny Prigozhin announced that on May 10 the fighters of the PMC “Wagner” would leave Bakhmut due to “bullet hunger” and high personal losses. According to him, according to the original plan, the PMC was supposed to take the city by 9 May. He stated that PMC fighters should take 2 square meters. The km of 45 sq. km is Bakhmut’s km and the shortage of bullets in the PMC “Wagner” is 90%.
Prigozhin stated that until May 9, the PMC units will remain in position, after which they will “go to the rear camps” to “bundle their wounds” and save their personnel.
Prigogine has spoken publicly about her “shell hunger” more than once. In February, he noted that this issue could not be resolved despite all his contacts. In March, the founder of PMC described the ammunition situation as “far from ideal”, emphasizing that despite some positive developments, shortages persist.
Source: Gazeta
Barbara Dickson is a seasoned writer for “Social Bites”. She keeps readers informed on the latest news and trends, providing in-depth coverage and analysis on a variety of topics.